A HEART patient who died after his life-saving operation was delayed three times kept a tragic diary of his frustration with the NHS.

A HEART patient who died after his life-saving operation was delayed three times kept a tragic diary of his frustration with the NHS.

Now his family are publishing the diary - in the hope of exposing what they consider to be his "needless" death and preventing the same thing happening to anyone else.

Lyn Hudson collapsed with chronic heart problems last September and was told he would have a bypass and valve operation within three months.

But six months later he was still waiting and had to be admitted to an accident and emergency unit with heart failure and breathing problems - where he died at the age of 59.

His death on 4 March came 16 days before the fourth appointment for his operation.

In his diary, the grandfather, of Audenshaw Hall Grove, Audenshaw tells how he has become increasingly frustrated after Wythenshawe Hospital sent him for a battery of tests and cancelled his operation three times.

His first cancellation is noted in the diary on 25 November.

He suffered a second delay on 21 December when the consultant is unhappy with test results and the third delay came on 19 January.

The disturbing diary also describes how treatment to try to improve his breathing appeared to make him worse, until he was unable to walk and could only sleep sitting up.

A spokeswoman for South Manchester Hospitals Trust, which runs Wythenshawe, said that two out of three delays were out of concern for Mr Hudson's safety, while the third was down to staffing problems.

His sister, Norma Clough, 71, of Gorsey Street, Ashton, said: "It is so sad to lose someone you love, but when you feel it could, and should, have been prevented, you can't accept it. I feel I need to do something to stand up for him, like I used to do when we were children.

"All the family have written to the hospital and they've told us they couldn't operate because it was too risky, because he was overweight and had an infection. But he waited double the time they'd said it would take and he died anyway.

"We want people to know this kind of thing is happening and to make sure it doesn't continue, it isn't acceptable to treat anyone like this.

"The professionals involved should be embarrassed. I hope by publishing his diary, they will think twice about delays in the future."

Mr Hudson had two children and three young grandchildren. He loved amateur dramatics and helped establish the Guide Bridge Theatre.

A hospital trust spokeswoman said Mr Hudson was prescribed the normal treatment to improve his breathing difficulties prior to major surgery.

She added: "We offer our condolences to Mr Hudson's family, but believe the decisions made were clinically appropriate.

"Mr Hudson's surgery was rescheduled on one occasion due to consultant unavailability and then suspended on two occasions for clinical reasons.

"The first suspension was because of respiratory problems experienced by Mr Hudson and he was referred to a chest physician. He was also advised to lose weight to reduce the risk of surgery.

"Routine tests prior to the most recent reinstated date for surgery showed that Mr Hudson was an MRSA carrier. Surgeons could not operate until Mr Hudson was treated and tested free from MRSA."